You
by Nubiangeek63
Summary: Speed falls for a woman with a troubled past.


Title: You  
  
Author: Nubiangeek  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Pairing: Speed/OFC  
  
Category: h/c-- romance  
  
It was quitting time. Each was jovial -- laughing and joking, and  
  
making plans for an after work drink. As they walked from the building, they  
  
happened to spy a prison van parked in front of the station. This was not an  
  
unusual sight, prisoners being transferred, they thought. But, what they  
  
didn't reckon on, were the gunshots that were fired, and the car that came speeding  
  
around the corner. Each of them pulled out their guns, as did the other officers  
  
in the vicinity, and began shooting. Everything was moving in slow motion.  
  
The driver of the car jumped out and joined in the fray. There were  
  
three prisoners, and they seemed to be holding one of the agents hostage.  
  
The other agent was down.  
  
Speed was concentrating on the driver of the car, whom he dispatched  
  
quickly. While Eric and Calleigh kept the three prisoners busy, while  
  
Speed reloaded. He froze as he felt cold steel against his forehead. One of the prisoners had broken free from the cover fire, and was now standing right in front of Speed. He closed his eyes thinking that this was the end. Then, he heard the click. He nearly wet his pants. The prisoner's gun was empty.  
  
"You're dead, cop. You just wait. "The prisoner then hit Speed in the  
  
head with his gun. He went out like a light.  
  
"Speed, man, are you okay?" Speed blinked as Eric's image phased in  
  
and out. His head hurt severely.  
  
"I'm fine." he said as he attempted to stand. He fell helplessly back  
  
to the ground. Calleigh was already on the phone calling for the  
  
paramedics.  
  
Speed attempted to get out of bed.  
  
"Oh, no you don't . . . The doctor said you have to stay over night. You  
  
received quite a hard blow to your head. Lucky you have a hard  
  
head." Calleigh joked. Tim rolled his eyes, but he did get back into bed.  
  
"So, what's the news on the escaped prisoners?" Eric and Calleigh  
  
looked at each other as if they were afraid to share too much information  
  
with Tim.  
  
"Well, the guy you shot, the one in the car, he was the brother of  
  
the guy who hit you." Tim's eyes went wide. So, that's why he said what he  
  
said, Tim thought.  
  
"Well, we gotta run. See you tomorrow."  
  
Tim hated to see them go; he didn't relish being alone with his thoughts.  
  
His mind kept bringing him back to the gun pressed into his forehead. He  
  
had neglected to tell Calleigh and Eric about that. He couldn't believe how  
  
close he had come to having his brains blown all over the pavement. He squeezed his eyes shut trying desperately to block out the image. He could not.  
  
The next day, they all gathered in the conference room to go over what they knew about the case, so far. Agent Sage Brummett was going to be  
  
working with them because she was one of the agents that was escorting the  
  
prisoners.  
  
Her partner, Dan Kavoy, had been killed at the scene. Agent Brummett presented what she knew of the escapees.  
  
". . . Ronald Foray, Carlos Hernandez, and Richard Hansen. The driver in  
  
the car was Manuel Hernandez, Carlos' brother."  
  
Whether consciously or unconsciously, everyone looked at Tim. They  
  
knew that he had shot Manuel Hernandez, and that he had a run in with  
  
Carlos.  
  
Tim swallowed hard; sweat had begun to pour from his forehead.  
  
"Tim, are you okay to be back? You know. You could have taken some  
  
more time off." Horatio was trying to be nice; Tim didn't like it.  
  
"I'm fine -- really." He wished they would all stop looking at him. As if sensing Tim's uncomfortableness, Calleigh forged ahead.  
  
"It says here that our three escapees were originally arrested for gun  
  
theft."  
  
Brummett picked up on the hint to change the subject.  
  
"Uh, yes, they liked guns, and, chances are, they'll probably try to  
  
get more."  
  
"Why wouldn't they just leave town?" Eric asked. "They need cash -- that's why." Horatio added.  
  
"They would need a place to crash while they stake out a place to  
  
hit." Everyone checked out the information packet looking for someone  
  
that the gang could contact.  
  
"What about this Caroline Rogers? She was Carlos' ex-girlfriend.  
  
Maybe he would contact her."  
  
Speed and Calleigh went to see Caroline Rogers. They had little  
  
information on her, so they had no idea what to expect. They  
  
definitely didn't expect the person that opened the door.  
  
"Yes, may I help you?"The woman behind the door only opened it a  
  
crack.  
  
"Uh, Miss, we're with the Crime Lab. We need to ask you some  
  
questions. May we come in?" The woman opened the door a little wider so that she could get a good look at their badges. The door slowly closed, and they could hear a chain being pulled. Then, the door opened, and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, opened the door. The woman had long brown hair with red highlights, as well as very bright, green eyes. Calleigh, noticing that Speed was momentarily speechless, began asking the woman some questions.  
  
"Has Carlos Hernandez tried to contact you, Ms. Rogers?" Caroline  
  
looked more afraid than someone who was trying to hide something.  
  
"Carlos is free?" she looked ready to bolt at any moment.  
  
"So, he hasn't contacted you?" Speed finally spoke when he saw the  
  
look of fear on Caroline's face. Caroline slowly shook her head.  
  
"We want you to contact us if he does get in touch with you." Calleigh  
  
handed the scared woman her business card. Calleigh and Speed left,  
  
but not before taking one more look at the frightened woman.  
  
Once back in the car, Tim couldn't help but think about leaving the  
  
woman in danger. He closed his eyes and held his head as he tried to squeeze  
  
out the pain.  
  
"Tim, are you all right?"  
  
Tim could barely hear her, as if she were very far away.  
  
"I think I need to go home." He said softly--barely audible. Calleigh glanced at him as she drove. She didn't like how pale he looked and, he was  
  
sweating again.  
  
"I'm taking you home."  
  
After making sure that Tim was comfortably tucked into bed, Calleighleft. Little did she realize that someone was watching from the bushes.  
  
He was back on the street n front of the station. Everything was  
  
moving in slow motion. He could hear the shouts and the shots, but nothing  
  
else.  
  
Suddenly, Carlos Hernandez was in front of him with the gun pointed  
  
at him. Then, he heard the shot. Tim jumped up; cold sweat running down his  
  
face. Why was this still haunting him? He didn't know. But then, after he got  
  
to the point where his heart beat was slowing, he heard another sound.  
  
He reached into the drawer of his bedside table, and pulled out his weapon. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and strained to hear  
  
another sound. Hearing none, he continued walking through the darkness. The  
  
fear clung to him like the sweat on his body.  
As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he saw the glow of a light. It wasn't bright enough to be the actual kitchen light; so, it must be from the refrigerator, Tim thought. He saw that the door was ajar. Tim approached it cautiously, making sure to check behind him as he approached. As he opened the door, he was hit with an appalling smell; he turned his head in an attempt to avoid it. Once he was able to proceed, he turned to see a dead, mutilated dog with a note that said, 'This could have been you.' Tim turned and retched in the sink.  
  
The team was there in a matter of minutes. They dusted the place for  
  
prints, even though they knew who had done it. Tim was in the living room still shaking from the experience.  
  
It was funny how he could see all of the horrible things that he did every  
  
day, and not get sick. His friends didn't say it, but he knew what they were  
  
thinking. He was weak.  
  
"Hey, you doing okay?" Calleigh asked. She could tell that he  
  
wasn't.  
  
"It was Hernandez, wasn't it?" Calleigh nodded. There was no doubt  
  
now. Hernandez was gunning for him.  
  
"It was a message, you know. He was saying that he could get me  
  
anytime he wanted." She knew that he was right. They both knew that Hernandez  
  
was bad news. But, Tim knew that there was only one person that knew how bad he was.  
  
Tim stood in front of Caroline Roger's door. He took a deep breath,  
  
and then he knocked on the door. He heard movement from inside, and then he heard her whisper, "Who is it?" she was afraid; he could tell.  
  
"It's Tim Speedle from the Miami Crime lab."  
  
There was a sigh of relief, as she opened the door. His thoughts of  
  
how beautiful she was came flooding back. Caroline also seemed to be hit  
  
with the same feelings about Speed.  
  
"Please, come in." Tim followed her into the apartment.  
  
"Would you like some coffee and pie?" Tim nodded. Caroline  
  
disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tray containing a carafe of  
  
coffee, two cups, cream, sugar, and two slices of strawberry pie. Tim was reminded  
  
that he hadn't eaten all day, and the pie looked so good. He was halfway  
  
through the first slice before he realized that Caroline was watching him.  
  
"Here you can have mine too." Caroline said as she slid her slice of  
  
pie toward him. He saluted her with his fork.  
  
"So, tell me about Carlos Hernandez."  
  
She knew that was the reason that he was here, but she was still reluctant to talk about it.  
  
"You want to know how I could be with Carlos Hernandez?" Tim nodded.  
  
"It was five years ago. I was rebellious, and Carlos was a bad boy."  
  
"So, you like bad boys?" he asked coyly. He was flirting, he realized. He had to keep reminding himself that he was on a case.  
  
"I did like bad boys. Then, Carlos was arrested for murder, a thrill kill, that's when I woke up. I went back to college and finished. I'm a teacher now."  
  
He admired the way she had turned her life around. But, he wondered if  
  
she were fully rehabilitated. Did she still harbor some feelings for Carlos?  
  
Caroline could read his face and knew what he was thinking. She had heard it all before. What's a nice girl like you doing with him, kinda thing.  
  
"So, what did you want to know?" she said bravely, crossing her arms in  
  
front of her chest. He could clearly see that she was uncomfortable, so he endeavored to make her feel more comfortable.  
  
"Tell me about yourself." He asked softly.  
  
He didn't know how long he was there because he was mesmerized by  
  
this woman. He had learned that she had lost her parents in a horrible car  
  
accident right before she took up with Carlos. He concluded that she was a good girl that had made a bad decision.  
  
He had found himself moving closer and closer to her. He had startedoff sitting in a chair opposite of her on the couch. At one point, when  
  
she was talking about her parents, she began to cry. Tim, instinctively,  
  
moved to sit next to her on the couch where he offered an inviting shoulder to cry on.  
  
When he finally did say goodbye, he felt as if he really knew  
  
Caroline Rogers. If Carlos Hernandez had been to see her, he was confident that she would have told them. In fact, she was very much afraid that he would show up. He had promised to stop by the next day after work.  
  
The next day at work, Tim was called out for a gang shooting. He was  
  
taking pictures of the crime scene, when a shot rang out and caught Tim in  
  
the arm. He was shocked that he had been hit.  
  
"Tim, can you hear me?" Horatio asked, as he bent over him. Tim still  
  
looked like he didn't know what was going on. He was whisked away to the hospital in a matter of minutes. Horatio, in the meantime, was looking around trying to determine where the shot had come from.  
  
In the shadows, Horatio could not see the person standing. When the  
  
shooter rushed from the scene, something was left behind.  
  
Calleigh was going over the evidence from the shooting.  
  
"Whoever the shooter the shooter was could have killed Tim if he'd  
  
wanted to." They were all hit with this realization, and knew who the shooter  
  
might be.  
  
"How is he?" Eric asked.  
  
"He'll be fine. He got hit in the shoulder; it was a through and through." Horatio said.  
  
"I want this lunatic off the street." He added. They all knew that he meant business.  
  
Tim, in the meantime, was back home; he was doped up on painkillers  
  
and drifting in and out. He was reliving it for the hundredth time. He again felt the gun pressing against his forehead. The look in Carlos' eyes and the  
  
sneer on his face was of pure evil. He became aware of his own heartbeat. It was loud in his ears. The sweat was pouring down his face, and the sheets on his bed were stuck to his body so that he became tangled.  
  
Reaching him through the haze was the sound of the door buzzer. It took him a while to recognize the sound. Tim dragged his legs out of the bed; hisfeet felt like rubber and concrete at the same time. His head began to swim.  
  
He heard footsteps. He was trembling with fear. He reached into the drawer, and pulled out his weapon. He pointed it at Carlos' head.  
  
"Tim, wake up man." Eric called. He dashed behind the wall just as  
  
the weapon is discharged. The sound of the gunshot seemed to bring him  
  
back. As the weapon fell from his hands, he collapsed back onto the bed.  
  
They stood looking at him as he lay sleeping soundly.  
  
"He tried to kill you?" Horatio said. He was whispering, but there  
  
was no doubt that he was angry.  
  
"It wasn't like that, H. it was an accident. H-He wasn't seeing me. He was looking right through me." Whether he believed it or not, they  
  
didn't know, but Horatio had confiscated Tim's gun. He didn't want any more  
  
accidents like that happening again.  
  
"Can't we just blame it on the medication?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Yeah, that and his recent trauma." They got ready to leave.  
  
"Look, I'm gonna hang out here for a while." Eric said. They all  
  
nodded; they understood.  
  
Caroline was agitated. She was expecting Tim, but he wasn't there.  
  
She paced around the room not knowing quite what to do. Yes, she was  
  
afraid, and Tim didn't look like the type to break a promise.  
  
She picked up the card that Calleigh had given her and dialed.  
  
"Yes, actually I was calling for Tim Speedle."  
  
Calleigh rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe Tim had given one of  
  
his girlfriends her cell phone number.  
  
"This is Caroline Rogers. He said that he would drop by to check on  
  
me. He hasn't shown up." She sounded agitated, Calleigh noted.  
  
"Uh, Ms. Rogers, Detective Speedle was shot today. He's all right, but I  
  
don't think he'll be over to check on you tonight. Would you like for  
  
me to send over another officer?" Caroline declined. Calleigh smiled as she  
  
hung up the phone.  
  
The next day at work, Horatio briefed them on evidence of Tim's shooting.  
  
"The only piece of evidence left at the scene was this." Horatio held  
  
up a dancer charm. They all looked at one another, and had a single thought.  
  
The shooter was a woman.   
  
Caroline stood in front of his door. She took a deep breath. She wasn't  
  
supposed to know where he lived. Just a few minutes with her laptop gave  
  
her all that she needed. Now she was afraid to knock on the door. Just as she  
  
was contemplating knocking, the door opened.  
  
"Uh hi, here's your paper." She said limply.  
  
God, I'm glad I put on some pants before I answered the door.  
  
"Uh hi, Caroline. Come on in." Leading the way, Tim began picking up newspapers and clothes, and stashing them out of the way. Caroline smiled and pretended not to see what he was doing.  
  
"Here, have a seat." He indicated. Caroline sat down.  
  
"Uh, sorry I didn't make it last night. I was, uh, busy." He indicated  
  
his slung arm.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, it only hurts when I laugh." He laughed and then winced.  
  
"Do you want something to drink?" he asked.  
  
"Do you want to get it?" His answer was a groan as he tried to stand  
  
up.  
  
She came back with two cokes.  
  
"What happened?" she said as she placed her hand softly on his arm.  
  
There was something about her touch that made his breath catch. She noticed  
  
this, and looked into his eyes. Tim felt his head reeling, and it wasn't  
  
from the medication. Tim took a deep breath to try to clear his head, and to  
  
give him courage. He gently placed his hand beneath her chin, and lifted it  
  
slightly. He took one more deep breath before he touched his lips to hers. It was as if electricity were being passed through their bodies. He felt it all the way down to his toes.  
  
His lips began to move over hers, as she reached up and put her arms  
  
around him. He moaned softly as she deepened the kiss. The kiss began  
  
to get more and more passionate, and Tim felt as if he were going under for the third time. The rational part of his brain told him to stop.  
  
"Uh, I believe you asked me what happened." He said, trying to regain  
  
his composure.  
  
"I was at work, and someone shot me." Caroline looked really  
  
surprised -- and scared.  
  
"Do you know who did it?" she asked shakily. She was still touching  
  
him, and her concern seemed to squeeze his heart. "The other thing we found was a ballerina charm . . . " Caroline seemed  
  
to get more and more agitated.  
  
"Uh, I probably should get going." She said as she abruptly stood up.  
  
"Wait. What's the matter?" He placed the hand from his good arm on  
  
her arm in an attempt to stop her from leaving. She was nearly hysterical  
  
by now. He gently added pressure to her arm to try to get her attention.  
  
"Caroline, listen, if you're scared, I can protect you." She pulled away and moved closer to the door.  
  
"I am so stupid. You got hurt because of me. All of this is because of  
  
me."  
  
Instead of leaving, she squatted by the door and started crying. Tim  
  
felt as if his heart was being torn in two. He went over and  
  
awkwardly picked her up and held her. He stroked her hair and whispered words of comfort in her ear. He convinced her to stay the night.  
  
When he awoke the next morning, Tim immediately felt for Caroline,  
  
making sure that she was within reach. He knew that getting involved with Caroline was a bad idea as far as the case went. He could just see Horatio blowing his stack. I mean, after all he did take my gun, Tim thought. He didn't care; he squeezed her tighter.  
  
"Good morning, you." She said smiling mischievously.  
  
"What were you thinking about?" she asked as she stroked his  
  
cheek softly.  
  
"Nothing." He lied. She knew that he was lying, but she let it go.  
  
"I gotta get ready for work." Tim said reluctantly.  
  
Caroline knew that he would have to go in, but she was secretly  
  
wishing that this time would never come.  
  
Caroline rose from the bed, and began putting on his discarded  
  
shirt. She loved how it smelled. He loved how sexy she looked in it.  
  
As they ate breakfast, Caroline noticed that Tim was unusually quiet.  
  
"Something is wrong. What is it?" She touched his arm and he  
  
could still feel the electricity.  
  
"I want you to go back to your apartment." He said softly. She didn't  
  
understand this. She felt that she was safer with him, and she said this.  
  
"H took my gun. I can't even protect myself." Caroline looked afraid. She knew that Carlos was after Tim.  
  
"I want to stay with you." Her green eyes were pleading withhim, and he couldn't take it.  
  
"Okay, look, I should be back around six unless something comes  
  
up." She went to him, then, and held and kissed him.  
  
"I'll be back as soon as I can."  
  
As soon as Tim walked through the door, they were all over him. Some were making sure he was all right, while others wanted to know if he had found out any more information. Calleigh waited until they were alone and asked, "Did Caroline ever get in touch with you?"  
Tim looked around to make sure that no one heard her.  
"You know, I really wish you wouldn't say that so loud." Tim whispered. Calleigh could see the guilt written all over his face.  
"Oh, you slept with her?" she asked in disbelief. Tim tried to shush her and pulled her away to try to explain.  
"Look Calleigh, she was upset because I didn't show up. You knew that I was attracted to her." He realized that his excuses weren't adequate.  
"You know what Horatio would say if he found out." Calleigh fired back. He knew.  
"You don't have to tell him." She shook her head.  
"I'm not going to tell him, but I think you should."  
Calleigh was done, and on her way.  
Tim did not relish telling Horatio about him and Caroline, but he knew that he had to.   
Carlos Hernandez had been watching Caroline's apartment. He was angry because she dumped him when he went to prison. She had not been back to her apartment. He wondered where she was. Perhaps she had gotten herself a new boyfriend.   
"We need to know where they're going to hit." Horatio was saying.  
"We need to talk to Caroline Rogers again. Maybe she can give us some insight on how this gang operates." Everyone immediately looked at Speed. So much for keeping this under wraps, he thought.   
"Caroline, what kinds of places did Carlos and his gang like to hit?" Speed asked.  
"Well, I found out later, that they had hit gun stores, pawn shops, anything that had a bunch of guns and cash. Nothing big like banks."  
Speed was making a list.  
"We think that Carlos needs to score because they need money in order to get out of town."  
Caroline was quiet.  
"What's wrong?" Speed asked.  
"I don't think Carlos is planning to leave town, at least not yet." She said stoically.  
The realization of what Caroline was saying finally hit Speed. Carlos wanted revenge, on both of them.   
After giving Tim a list of possible places to hit, they set about covering the most logical one.  
"This one receives a lot of money to cash checks from the factory across the street. If our guys know that, then that's where they'll strike." Horatio said to the team.  
Tim, who was thinking that the great ordeal was almost over, began looking forward to spending more time with Caroline without the shadow of the case hanging over their heads.  
The next day, several Miami-Dade police officers prepared to descend on the pawn shop that was their target.  
They watched as the owner opened the shop. They had several undercover people who would wander in and out and pretend to be customers.  
The officers stayed outside the shop from opening until closing. There was no sign of the gang.  
"Well, that was an unbelievably, huge, waste of time." Calleigh said in disgust. Tim tried to work out in his mind what could have happened. Caroline had been so sure.  
No one was saying it, but everyone was starting to doubt Caroline's helpfulness. Maybe she and Carlos were still secretly meeting and Caroline was destined to receive a share of whatever the gang gleaned.   
When they got back to headquarters, Brummett was furious.  
"She set us up! And all while he's playing house with her." Horatio tried to calm the agent down.  
"We need to look back over the information we had. Ms. Rogers didn't actually tell us to watch that particular pawn show."  
"Yeah, but she sure pointed us in that direction. I think she's in with Carlos and has been playing us from the very beginning."  
The thought had, briefly, crossed Horatio's mind, but he knew that agent Brummett was coming from a place of pain. After all, her partner had been killed.  
"I say we bring her in." The agent went on to say. Horatio felt that this was too hasty a move. After all, if Caroline were in on this, like the agent thought, she was their only link to Carlos. He explained this to Brummett, and it seemed to calm her down.  
In the meantime, Tim had been having his doubts as well. He went to talk to Eric about it.  
Eric had thought that something had been odd, too, but he didn't feel that it was his place to say anything. How relieved he was when Tim came to him to talk.  
"Eric, do you think Caroline set us up?" he asked. Eric could feel his friend's pain.  
"I don't know, but it is strange." Tim could feel that Eric wasn't saying everything that he thought.  
They were both shocked to find out that the gang did, indeed, make a hit, but it was on the other side of town, and it was a liquor store.  
That evening when Tim went home, he asked Caroline about it.  
"I don't understand,." Caroline said.  
"They never hit liquor stores. They always went after lots of money, and guns."  
Tim listened and tried to decide if she were telling the truth. Caroline sensed this.  
"You don't believe me, do you?" Tim looked at her eyes steadily before answering.  
"I want to believe you. . ."  
Caroline silently got up and went into the bedroom and shut the door. He could hear her crying through the door, and it almost killed him.   
Look at me  
  
Look at me  
  
Look into my eyesTell me, do you see that I am always by your side?  
  
Or has the world got you down on your knees?  
  
Come to me Look at you  
  
Look into your heart  
  
Tell me is there room for you to make a brand new start?  
  
Or has the world gotten to you and made you dark?  
  
Come to me ''Cuz when you cry, all your tears I will wipe away  
  
and when you laugh, who you think got you that way?  
  
And when you dream, when you wake up, is it me you want to see? Look at us  
  
Look around the world  
  
''cuz all you seem to find are unhappy boys——unhappy girls  
  
and tell me ...... is that what you want for you and me?  
  
Don''t you want to be happy?   
"They hit Thompson's Liquor Store over on Fifth, but the interesting thing is that they left us a message." Horatio put up on the screen the note that was left by the gang.  
"You got the wrong place, cops."  
This told everyone that the gang was aware that the police were staking out the pawn shop. Horatio was hopping mad.  
"Bring Ms. Rogers in for questioning." he said directly to Tim. Tim got angry as well.  
"Why do you want me to bring her in? You're acting as if this is all my fault." Of course, it didn't matter what Horatio thought, Tim thought it was all his fault.  
"I'm sorry, would you please bring in Ms. Rogers."   
Caroline had decided to go back to her own apartment after the argument that she and Tim had. This only served to make Tim feel worse. He felt guilty about suspecting her, but the evidence was pointing in that direction.  
When he arrived at her apartment, the first thing that he noticed was that the door was ajar. Tim, instinctively, reached for his gun, but forgot that Horatio had not given it back yet. He cursed under his breath, but slowly pushed the door the rest of the way open.  
Tim's heart began to race as he imagined what was happening to Caroline.  
"Hey cop, don't make any fast movements. You hear?"  
Tim was faced with his worst fear. Carlos was holding Caroline with a gun pointed at her head.  
"I knew my girl was seeing someone. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a dirty cop. And, it's the same dirty cop that killed my brother."  
Tim could see that Caroline was really scared.  
"Let her go, Carlos. It's me you want." Tim knew that it was weak ploy.  
"No, she stays. I gotta score to settle with her, too."  
He made them both sit on the couch, while he held the gun on them. Tim noticed that Carlos was getting more and more nervous, as if he didn't know what to do next. This also made Tim very nervous.   
"Something's not right." Horatio said.  
"Is Speed back yet?" He asked. They all got the same hinky feeling, and headed to Caroline's apartment.  
The first thing that they noticed was Tim's car, so they knew that he was there. Horatio called Tim on his cell phone. The ringing of the cell phone made everyone jump.  
"Answer it." Carlos ordered. He didn't want anyone interrupting their little party.  
"Speed." Tim said in his monotone voice.  
"Speed, we know something's wrong, so just listen. If you're in trouble, just say, 'okay'."  
"Okay." Tim answered.  
"All right. We're right outside. Is Caroline there?"  
"Yes." Horatio was beginning to sweat bullets.  
"See, if you can get him to stand over by the window."  
Speed hung up by saying 'See you later.' to make it sound as if he'd been talking about work.  
Then, he began to think, 'How in the world am I going to get him by the window, without getting killed, that is.'  
In the meantime, Horatio had called the SWAT team, but everyone was staying out of sight.  
Speed, uneasily stood up, and began walking toward the window. He wasn't crazy enough to actually get in front of the window. Those Swat guys might take him out instead of Carlos. What he was trying to do was to get Carlos to follow him over to the window.  
"What, are you crazy man?" Carlos said as he followed Speed with the gun pointed at Speed's head. Caroline was frantic. Speed didn't want her to be afraid, but this was the only way to save both of them.  
"I thought we could talk about this, Carlos, man to man." Speed began.  
"You are crazy. See, baby, you always thought I was crazy, but what about this guy? He's going to get both of you shot." Carlos was flipping out. Speed closed his eyes as he saw Carlos begin to pull on the trigger. Caroline screamed, and there was a shot. Speed opened his eyes to see Carlos lying on the floor in a pool of blood.  
Speed went to Caroline, who began hitting him furiously in the chest.  
"Don't you ever do that again." She shouted as she cried hysterically. Tim finally got her calmed down, and she collapsed against his chest in a fit of tears.  
"I'm sorry, honey, I'm so sorry." He said as he stroked her hair and kissed her on top of the head. At that moment, SWAT came bursting through the door, followed by Horatio, Eric, and Calleigh.  
"You two okay?" Horatio asked.  
"We're fine. We're going to be fine." Tim murmured.   
You Are My Destiny  
  
Paul Anka  
  
You are my destiny  
  
You share my reverie  
  
You are my happiness  
  
That's what you are  
  
You have my sweet caress  
  
You share my loneliness  
  
You are my dream come true  
  
That's what you are  
  
Heaven and heaven alone  
  
Can take your love from me  
  
'Cause I'd be a fool  
  
To ever leave you dear  
  
And a fool I'd never be  
  
You are my destiny  
  
You share my reverie  
  
You're more than life to me  
  
That's what you are  
  
You are my destiny  
  
You share my reverie  
  
You are my happiness  
  
That's what you are 


End file.
